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Hawk Improves With Age
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During the course of the next few years, the RAAF will have to decide on an aircraft to replace the ageing Aermacchi MB-326H. One of the principal contenders is certain to be the British Aerospace Hawk, which several services (including the US Navy) evidently judge to be the finest jet trainer currently available, and which BAe now claims to have twice the warlord-radius performance of its closest competitor in the ground attack field. If the RAAF is satisfied that the Hawk’s cost (which is admittedly higher than that of the competing MB-339) is justified by benefits associated with its performance and handling qualities, and if BAe can propose a co-development and co-production package that will win the support of Australian industry, then the Hawk may well become the long-awaited ‘Macchi-replacement’.
The basic arguments for the Hawk as a trainer for the RAAF are that its remarkably wide speed range and advanced cockpit provisions make it a good stepping-stone between the Australian Basic Trainer and the F/A-18, and that its life-cycle costs are disproportionately small, due to its high reliability, modest manpower demands, and long fatigue life. In addition, due to its high performance (which would reduce the time required on the operational aircraft during conversion), the Hawk could be employed to maintain the proficiency ofF/A-18 andF-111 pilots, the reduction in flying hours on these very expensive aircraft giving large-scale savings for the RAAF. With its heavy warload and 500-knot attack speed, the Hawk could also form a highly credible close support complement for the F/A-18 in wartime. Finally, thanks to the aircraft’s outstanding development potential, it could almost certainly provide a much more useful industrial workload in Australia than any of its competitors.
The Hawk first flew in 1974 and entered service with the RAF in 1977, but it is still the technological leader in its category. From an aerodynamic viewpoint, it is unique, in being the only trainer to combine a swept wing and double-slotted flaps. The wing sweep, in combination with a very advanced aerofoil section, allows it to reach Mach 1. 2 in a dive with no handling problems. In its latest form the twin-slot flap (refined to meet US Navy approach speed requirements) gives a stall speed in the range of 75-90 knots, depending on fuel state.
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